Flygvapnets framtida attackförmåga : Warden, Pape och kryssningsrobotar

During the last decades, air defense has been the core mission of the Swedish Air Force. This has come at the expense of offensive strike capability. However, this may be about to change. In the coming defense bill it is proposed that the Swedish Air Force will acquire cruise missiles during the 2020´s. With the aim of ensuring that this new capability will generate the maximal operational effect for the Air Force, this essay has examined how the current Swedish air doctrine,TR LuftOp 2017, views offensive strike operations today and how this possibly may change with the new capabilities offered by cruise missiles. This has been done through a qualitative text research method where John A. Warden´s and Robert A. Pape´s theories of offensive air power have been used as the theoretical framework. The result shows that the Swedish air doctrine today closely resembles Robert A. Papes theory, with the exception of some signs of Warden´s thoughts. However, most signs suggest, and it is this essays conclusion, that the acquisition of cruise missiles probably will result in the Swedish air doctrine adopting more of Warden´s theory at the expense of Pape´s theory